Apple has had
its ups and downs over the decades, and we were all along for the ride cheering
for this upstart to succeed. Its popularity is stronger than ever and now it’s
us being taken for a ride instead. Yes, they work really well, but are they cutting
edge anymore? Uh, no. A watch! Give me a break. Who even wears them anymore? Is
this really the culmination of all that brainpower and decades of evolving
products and technology? Seems like “innovation” has become synonymous with, “Hey,
let’s think of the next marketing gimmick that everyone will think is
revolutionary, (psst, even though we know it’s really not anymore).” Guess they
have to have something, anything, to sell to pay for that glamorous new
headquarters ravaging the landscape of Cupertino, Calif.

Coffeehouses are
drowning in Macs: Perhaps it’s the education discount afforded to college students?
Perhaps they’re just that good?
Perhaps their products actually deliver on all that hype? Here’s a more likely
scenario—you’re completely wasting your money. That, and you’re a sheep. You’ve
fallen for it. Unless you’re a graphic designer or are using professional
software (Pro Tools, etc.) you don’t need it. You just don’t. Of course, we
don’t really need a lot of things
these days: designer coffee and the associated burr grinders, reality
television, hell, we don’t even need to buy books—there’s this place called the
library for Chrissake. But these things are just fun, right? Sure. Why not. But
Apple has committed the ultimate social deceit. They’ve taken true innovation,
turned it upside down, and allowed the marketeers to get a hold of it and use
it as an insidious tool to get your money—not because their devices are
standout good anymore, but because you believe they are. You’ve been cleverly
played into thinking you can’t be seen without one, that you can’t live without
it.

Let’s all think
and act like we’re being unique, but we’re not, really. Let’s all conform to
our corporate masters. Let’s all be individuals in exactly the same way: same
tattoos, same facial hair and skinny painted-ons, and of course, the same
computer.

Nothing new
here. Fashion is, in essence, social pressure to conform, and the less inclined
you are to be yourself the more likely you are to waste your resources keeping
up with people you don’t even know. And the company once cherished for its
unique innovation is now nothing more than a cash machine for its shareholders,
and they have you right where they want you, Mac owners. You’ve bought into the
marketing, the hype, the advertising and mystique. Used to be that trendsetters
and the slightly rebellious turned their backs on big money. Now Apple’s got
you by the plums. Your computer and phone are nothing more than fashion
accessories to go with whatever is trendy at the moment. This, again, is by
design. Apple no longer designs products, they design lifestyle. Who out there
doesn’t think iTunes used to be more user friendly in its original incarnation?
It was elegantly simple and easy to use. Now it’s a convoluted mess—but, hey,
it’s an Apple product so it’s gotta be good, right?

Let’s all take
our money and creativity back.

Do you need to
spend $2,000 to browse, email, play games and listen to music? No. Do you need
to spend $2,000 to prove how “cool” you are? If you’re insecure beyond help,
then yes. Here’s a thought for those of you who think you’re so tech savvy—buy
a $300 computer and run Linux or a Linux-based operating system like Ubuntu or
Debian and use freeware. Yes, free,
the way it should be. Stop hiding behind the slick artifice of Apple’s image
and comfortable conformity and move on. Why not actually do something to bolster your image of individuality, not just buy
that image from one of the richest corporations ever known?

Let’s all see cafés
full of people ditching the corporate marketing tools (and tracking devices)
and making their own decisions.

Ah, what a
dream—to walk into a coffeehouse and see a variety of laptops, with a variety
of operating systems, used by people who aren’t all dressed alike. They could
even have different haircuts, eyeglass frames thinner than a steel girder and
any other color than black, and perhaps their “sense of humor” could be
something other than “ironic,” even genuine perhaps. Maybe their bicycles could
have multiple gears again. Or perhaps it’s asking too much of our current
“counter culture” (in name only) to actually demonstrate their ability to make
decisions for themselves, not by our corporate overlords and cynical mass
marketing and social media.

Daniel D’arcy is the pen name for a
veteran Milwaukee public radio host, now working on the West Coast.

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